Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper has been declared love by one of her castmates as she was seen publicly supporting his move away from the show, saying she’s “really proud”.

The actress. who is famed for playing Belle Dingle in the ITV soap, having made her debut in the role as a youngster back in 2005, was seen supporting her newer co-star, Bradley Riches, who joined the show last year as Lewis Barton.

He arrived in the Dales the previously unknown brother of Ross Barton, and son of the late Emma Barton. And after discovering the horrifying truth of his mother’s death, Lewis decided to give his newfound family a chance and has been living in the village ever since.

But away from what’s happening on-screen, actor Bradley has been busy working on a very personal project. He has put pen to paper for his own book, Autistically Me, which he first announced last year.

Sharing a first look at the book in November, Bradley told his social media followers: “To every beautifully unique brain out there- this one’s for you. ‘Autistically Me’ is a celebration, a guide, and a reminder that you are enough…”

Revealing more about it, Bradley recently told the Metro: “It’s called Autistically Me. I say it’s a bit like a toolkit for neurodiverse and autistic people. It’s tips and tricks that I’ve learnt along my way. It’s not an autobiography!

“I describe things like going to an airport at 15 for the first time, and how X,Y, and Z was too much, and this is what I did to help myself. I’m using my own experiences and giving tips and tricks. I spoke to a lot of autistic people for the book as well. It’s an all-rounded advice book from different types of people.”

He added: “I speak about myself in there as well, the things I’ve struggled with and why I’ve written this book. It’s for everyone. Whenever I read it I think of whether I was a parent reading it, or a teacher, or an autistic person, it feels like you do take something from the book and learn from it, whoever you are. I’m really happy about it. It’s out June 9th. And I might be doing a book signing tour as well!”

And now he’s had a positive endorsement from his co-star, as Eden took to TikTok with a little video review of Bradley’s book having got the chance to read it before publication.

In the clip, the soap star is heard saying: “My lovely friend Bradley Riches has written a book called ‘Autistically Me’ and I had the pleasure and privilege of reading it pre-release and I wanted to talk to you about it because I’m really proud of him. Really, really proud of him.”

She shared a clip of her TikTok post to her Instagram Story, in which she tagged Bradley and shared a link to purchase his book. Resharing the post, Bradley showed how grateful he was for her support as he said: “Thank you for such kinds words. Love ya @swedentd.”